pecohen Loc: Central Maine

From time to time, discussions about the merits of shooting RAW appeared on UHH and I posted an example comparison there. which may have (but probably not) change any minds. But it did get me thinking.

In the example, if I remember correctly, I processed in Topaz Studio, mostly using Precision Contrast; I boosted the micro contrast quite a lot if my memory serves me (I did the editing a year ago). But it occurred to me that another way I might have brought out the detail hidden in the RAW file would be to apply HDR processing.

I found Lightroom and PS to be altogether too cumbersome for this job though it probably is possible. Corel's PSP does the job easily but the results were disappointing. I had better luck with Aurora HDR. It required almost no effort at all to get a respectable result. The result from Aurora seems to me more visually pleasing than what I got out of Topaz Studio, but noticeably more detail came out in the Topaz version. Blending the two images together could be an option, but I think I've spent too much time on this already.

Sony RAW file
Attached file:
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With Topaz Editing

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Edited with Aurora HDR

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Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Inside of Photoshop I sent it to Nik Color Efex Pro> Detail Extractor. 1 click and done.

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selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Any of the major players in the raw conversion arena should be able to handle this raw file with ease. It's just a matter of becoming familiar with the tool.

I used Capture One Pro 20 with no plug-ins and got the attached result after recovering the shadows and applying a little clarity and structure adjustments.

But the challenge with this image is that about 79,000 of the 24MP raw pixels (about 0.4%) were actually blown out. Although that seems like a small amount it's actually significant. Highlight recovery cannot fix a blown pixel although the software will try to restore the correct color. Less than a 1 stop reduction in exposure or even reducing the ISO from 500 to to 400 or 320 could have prevented this.

After all, it's the colored lights you were after, not the dark background. Look around the bright white dots and you can see the actual color of the lights. A tiny bit less exposure and those dots would not have been white but rather a very bright rendition of their actual color.

When in doubt this is a situation where bracketing could have saved the day.

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R.G. Loc: Scotland

I would say the main reason for that is the better contrast of the Aurora edit. It shouldn't be too hard to get contrast as well as detail.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Thanks for the demo, pecohen. As we see already, everyone has their favorite procedure or software 😀

I think the raw vs. jpg discussions come down to how much time one wants to spend learning and applying software vs. simply shooting. There is no right/wrong answer, and I've very much enjoyed my journey with "playful" editing, as well as working with raw for more detail and dynamic range for traditional results.

I appreciate your topic!

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

I think you are probably right. However, to serve as devil's advocate, sometimes a less cluttered image has greater impact. Still, I'd like to have access to that clutter and decide consciously what to remove than to simply let it slip away by accident.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Indeed. And the raw file will always be the better option giving you more choices.

Most of my edit was all about tone levels, contrast and clarity. And because I used the HSL section to mitigate the unwanted effects of pushing those adjustments I was able to push them further - that and a bit of selective brushwork to target the problem areas.

HDR presets can be quick and convenient but I taught myself how to do HDR adjustments and because of that I can control what's happening and tailor it to suit. I found that using presets (not just HDR) brought my learning process to a standstill (apart from learning how to use presets). The closest I come to that now is using Lr's Dehaze tool.
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